An infant incubator is a medical unit which provides a controlled environment for a premature, or otherwise delicate or sick infant. The incubator isolates the infant from the outside atmosphere which might be the source of infections or which might be inadequate to aid the infant in overcoming his difficulity.
Many infant incubators are provided with means for gaining access to the infant to enable giving aid and attention to the infant while he remains within the incubator. Typically, such means may include armholes or access ports in one or more side walls of the hood of the incubator through which those attending to the infant may slip their hands and arms to reach the infant. In certain situations, in the care of the more critically ill infant, it is desirable to provide for more complete access to the infant than is possible by the use of an armhole type of access port. This may be accomplished by providing an access door in the hood. Ordinarily the opening of an access door will not produce significant physiological effects on the infant if the door remains open for a relatively short period of time. However, for certain operative procedures which require longer periods of access to the infant, the environment within the hood may be altered because of the time the access door is held open.